Beginner with a lot of questions!

First of all, I'd like to thank anyone who takes time answering my questions about raw foods. I have a feral cat named Tubby. She is around 10 months old now, I took her in when she was around 4 months. I'm currently feeding her wellness core kitten formula and I was wondering whether to keep feeding her canned food or to switch to raw food. I read somewhere that raw food is actually cheaper than buying canned food, is that true? If I were to start making raw food for her, what should I be reading about or be researching? Where would I find my meats (ex. supermarket/ online)? Is there a guide or step by step process on this forum or others for preparing raw foods. Finally, how much would they need to eat or does that depend on my cat? Thank you guys!

Vitaturtle- I am so glad you are looking into raw feeding. I think it has been wonderful for my cats and I would never feed them any other way.

I got amazing information right here. I suggest you read, read and then read some more. Lot's of great information at www.feline nutrition.org and www.catinfo.org.

There are many ways to feed raw and the very thing to do is research and then see what works best in your life. I have tried many different ways and finally I buy commercial Freeze -dried ( Stella and Chewy's Duck, Duck ,Goose) and the rest of my food I buy from Hare Today Gone Tomorrow at www.hare-today.com

I do save money now that I am feeding raw instead of canned. How much you feed depends on the cat, it's size and energy level. In general most find that cats require less food on a raw diet. A raw diet is pure nutrition as opposed to dry food. The cats have their energy needs met with less. On dry they keep having to eat more and more because so much in kibble does not provide nutrition.Spend time educating yourself and then give it a go.It is important that it be done correctly or not at all.

 Good luck and enjoy yourself.

You can start reading these TCS threads:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources

You can keep feeding the Wellness canned food if you want. Canned food is good for all cats and an alternative to feeding raw If you do want to switch to raw, use the Wellness to transition your cat over.

Raw is cheaper in the long run. I think homemade raw or frankeprey are the cheapest while commerical raw pet food the most expensive (but still cheaper than canned). Here are some threads that discuss cost:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/200780/how-much-does-raw-food-cost

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/282354/how-much-does-the-raw-diet-cost-you

And here are some threads outside of TCS that you may find helpful:

Study comparing the cost of raw to canned / kibble

Cost per week?

How much do you spend on food?

Is a raw diet feasible on a college budget?

How much does raw cost you per month?

Catinfo.org, Catnutrition.org, and Feline Nutrition.org are good web sites to learn about raw food in general and there are recipies as well.

After doing your reading, decide what form of raw you want to do: homemade using a recipie, frankenprey / prey model, commerical frozen raw pet food, raw meats of your choice with a pre mix supplement, commerical freeze dried raw, commerical dehydrated raw food. All have their pros and cons.

Don't buy ground supermarket meat. There is bacteria mixed throughout the meat which may upset your cat's tummy. Buy whole cuts of meat instead, like chicken breast, and either grind or chop it yourself. Note: some brands of packaged supermarket chicken may contain solutions that may contain sugars, flavorings, and preservatives. Avoid these if possible. Or buy your raw meats from a trusted butcher shop.

A lot of people here buy their raw meats from online raw pet food web sites such as Hare-Today.com and MyPetCarnivore.com Shipping may be costly, though.

Independent pet stores often have raw meats for pet food. These are usually rolls / chubs. Some are just 100% ground up meat, others are ground meat with ground bone and ground organs. These can be used as the meat part of a raw recipie (example, if the recipie calls for 2 lbs of raw meat, just substitute it with a 2 lb chub of 100%  raw meat) or with the appropriate pre mix supplement.

How much to feed varies. 5 or 6 oz per day is common but it really depends on the cat.

Thought I would add my questions as well:

Is Stella & Chewy's made in Milwaukee, WI?

Do they sell the same food to dogs & cats?

Is there a place to find out the protein/fat proportions?

What do you folks prefer: Rad cat or stella & chew's.

So far I am looking into Rad cat because it appears the split is 70% protein/30% fat & no carbs

Primal has vegetables in it & I don't feel cats needs any carbs

I am currently feeding canned Instinct & feel that raw will be cheaper.  And much cheaper in the long run avoiding diet caused illnesses.

Riley1 said:

 
Is Stella & Chewy's made in Milwaukee, WI?

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Yes: http://www.stellaandchewys.com/how-were-made/

Riley1 said:

 
Do they sell the same food to dogs & cats?

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No, there are separate foods for dogs and cats.

Riley1 said:

 
Is there a place to find out the protein/fat proportions?

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Try the product web site: http://www.stellaandchewys.com/products/dog-dinners/ Click on the Cat Dinners link.

Dr. Lisa was unable to get the nutritional information for her food chart because Stella and Chewy's wanted her to sign some confidentiality agreement.

Rad Cat is only frozen while Stella and Chewy's is available in both frozen and freeze dried. Given that it's currently difficult to find Stella and Chewy's for cats in stores and online (but plenty of the dog products everywhere ), it's probably best to go with Rad Cat for now.

Riley1 said:

 
I am currently feeding canned Instinct & feel that raw will be cheaper.  And much cheaper in the long run avoiding diet caused illnesse

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Definitely the FD raw or raw will be cheaper than canned. I feed Instinct canned, it's about 25% of my two cats diet but I'm trying to switch over to all raw.  My female cat is fussy though, the cats are allergic to chicken so our  FD options are far and few.  They don't like S&C but they do like Primal FD turkey. I don't like the vegetable content in Primal either, however, given that they like that over S&C, I'd rather do a FD raw with veggies, rather than a canned. My male cat likes RadCat.  Good luck, you definitely will save money (and scooping time in the kitty box, it's true that kitties stool volume decreases quite a bit on a raw diet).  

Thanks for all your answers!  I live very close to Milwaukee so I might be able to check out their plant.   I also I going to call them; maybe being so close I could try some get some cat food. I can't seem to navigate these websites as well as you can to find the answers so I appreciate your help!